Some improvement, areas to address found in PCM state performance profiles

Area school districts recently given their Iowa School Performance Profiles, an online tool to show how public school have performed along multiple measures. PCM schools received their ratings, ranging from Commendable to Needs Improvement for the four schools that make up the district.

The ratings, based on a scale of 0-100, fall into six categories: Exceptional 66.31 and up, High Performing 50.51 to 66.30, Commendable 54.91 to 60.60, Acceptable 49.21 to 54.90, Needs Improvement 43.96 to 49.20 and Priority 43.96 and below. They are made up of several accountability measures and combined to an overall score. The state average score for this year’s profiles was set at 54.65.

MONROE ELEMENTARY

Monroe Elementary School received a Needs Improvement rating with an overall score of 45.53. It met the comprehensive status but for targeted status had a subgroup, low socio-economic status, below the 43.95 percent bar. With that, it is in the Extended Targeted Year 1 ESSA support.

“This is because our school was identified three years ago as having one student subgroup that performed as low as the lowest 5 percent of schools and that one student subgroup continues to perform as low as the lowest 5 percent of schools,” PCM Elementaries Principal Donita Geetings said. “We view Iowa’s accountability and support as an opportunity to review our strengths and areas for improvement and to build on the great things we have going on.”

In 2021, the school also received an Acceptable rating with a score of 53.08.

PRAIRIE CITY ELEMENTARY

Prairie City Elementary School received Commendable for it’s profile. For the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act, the school met the comprehensive status and targeted status, which means it had a school greater than 43.95 percent for all students and all subgroups. It was reported to need no support with it’s score of 55.97 out of 100.

The elementary school also received a Commendable rating in 2021 with a score of 59.02.

Geetings said as a district, they will continue to work towards improvement in the following areas:

•Providing student-centered, high quality, rigorous and relevant instruction in each classroom.

•Improving our student support structures and processes to meet students’ academic, social and behavioral needs while increasing engagement and belonging.

• Fostering cooperative relationships through relevant, open communications and outreach to strengthen our learning community.

• Supporting staff in personal and professional growth to add value to a healthy culture to promote collaboration and accountability in the educational community.

• Improving efficiency, effectiveness, and safety in district facilities and operation.

“We have taken substantial steps toward improvement including: ME/PCE 4th and 5th grade merge to include content focused teaching and learning, implementation of a whole-school transformational process called the Leader in Me to teach 21st-century leadership and life skills, and a focus to ensure every student in every grade receives quality core instruction in the classroom,” Geetings said. “Thank you for your continued support of our school, our staff and our students.”

PCM MIDDLE SCHOOL

PCM Middle School received a score of 56.23 and a Commendable rating. It met the comprehensive status but for targeted status had a subgroup, students with disabilities, below the 43.95 percent bar.

The middle school had an Acceptable rating in 2021 with a score of 52.87.

PCM HIGH SCHOOL

Receiving the third highest rating, PCM High School received a Commendable rating with a school of 58.72. It also met the comprehensive status and targeted status.

The school also received a Commendable rating in 2021 with a score of 59.55.

HOW THE PROFILES ARE FIGURED

The accountability measures or learning measures are eight categories used to identify the score for each school. They include:

• Student Participation on State Assessments: This requires that a minimum of 95 percent of a school’s enrollment participate in annual state assessments. The 95 percent rule also applies to a school’s student subgroups.

• Academic Achievement: This measures two things: Proficiency: The percentage of students in a school who are proficient in math and English language arts (ELA) based on assessment results and Average Scale Score: Information about the average performance of students in ELA and mathematics in a school.

• Student Growth: This examines student growth by looking at assessment scores over time to determine whether a student performed better or worse than his/her academic peers (students at the same grade level with similar scores).

• Graduation Rate for High Schools: This measure determines the percent of students who graduate from high school in four or five years.

• Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency: For students whose first language is not English, this measures a student’s progress in obtaining English language proficiency across the domains of reading, writing, listening and speaking. This measure is based on Iowa’s English language proficiency assessment, ELPA21.

• Conditions for Learning: This measures school safety, engagement and learning environment based on a survey of students in grades 5 through 12.

The schools also receive a score for each subgroup of students, such as students with disabilities. The subgroups must have 20 or more students to be a part of the score.

The scores given to the school are used in two way: to identify schools in need of support and improvement, comprehensive or targeted, and to assign the ratings.

For comprehensive support, an overall score muse fall within the lowest 5 percent of Title I school sin the state, or if its graduation rate falls below 67.1 percent. Generally, these schools need assistance and support based on the performance of the entire student population.

A school is identified for targeted support and improvement if a student subgroup score is as low as the lowest 5 percent of schools in the state. The subgroup categories are students who are eligible for free and reduced price meals, English learners, students with disabilities and students by racial/ethnic minority group.

Comprehensive and targeted schools maintain their designations for three years, giving the schools time to come up with a meaningful plan that will be effective and sustaining to address the need.

For a more detailed look at each school’s rating, visit www.iaschoolperformance.gov/ECP/Home/Index.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com